#bimmer

Everyone loves a dynamic character. Think about it. When have you ever read a book or watched a movie and said to yourself, "Wow, I'm really glad that the main character didn't develop throughout the story"? We long for that feel-good moment when the protagonist reaches a turning point and changes. The development for our F20/F30 intercooler has a relatable plot line.

R&D is a process with its own ups and downs. That's what makes it a challenge, and thus fun for us problem solvers. Even with a lot of research and simulations, some things lead to unexpected outcomes. If you look back through the beginning stages of our development, it's clear that we're taking a unique approach when it comes to the stepped-core intercooler. If you're worried that adding the angle to the top of our intercooler core was the part that worked out differently, never fear, it does its job. The topic of shrouding is the aspect that eventually took a different turn once we arrived at the testing phase.

Heavy Shrouding

It's been a long time coming since we last left off with the development of this intercooler. While it might have been trying on your patience, and a little on ours, it's not necessarily a bad thing that it took some time. Simply put, how are we going to make sure that what ends up at your door step is perfect if the first doesn't possess the same qualities? And sometimes doing things a little differently takes some time.

If you look back to our last post outlining the design plans, you'll see exactly what I'm on about when it comes to doing things differently. We did end up giving a good amount away then, but since it's been a while, I'll refresh your memory.

Yes, the stepped core is nothing new nowadays. With the F2X and F3X Bimmers, the design of the stock system almost requires a stepped core in order to squeeze more performance out of the N55 and N20 engines. During our development process, we investigated the idea of a few other core configurations, but neither quite stacked up to

When I last left off our engineer, Steve, was busy scanning and creating a 3D model of the F30 stock unit as a reference for our new design. There is an impressive amount of engineering that has gone into this intercooler project already, with more to come. One of the reasons for this attention to detail is because of the wide range of models that this new cooler is going to fit, as seen by our photo gallery. Another reason is because BMW has a pesky habit of living up to their moniker, "The Ultimate Driving Machine," they leave little room for error.

Steve working the Faro Design ScanArm to create a 3D model of the stock intercooler unit.

I've always been a huge fan of BMW, especially when it comes to the meticulous engineering that goes into each of their vehicles. Every model they put out is designed to last. Whether it be a 28-year old 3-series speeding around the flat back roads of New Jersey, or the much bigger and heavier X3 taking on the winding mountain roads of the Colorado

Mishimoto prides itself on the ability to improve the cooling systems on just about any vehicle that rolls through the garage door. Intercoolers have become our bread and butter at this point. That being said, BMW's are notoriously over-engineered, so improving on the meticulous German design isn't going to be an easy task.

It seems that the engineers at BMW wanted to make sure they provided the best equipment on their "Ultimate Driving Machine," which means tight spacing. Peeling the front bumper cover from our loaner 2014 335i M Sport reveals a space no bigger than a toaster oven. A tricky intercooler project lies ahead, but that's OK, because we're up to the challenge.

The front fascia is secured on tight, but our engineer Steve, left, and project manager, Rob, make short work of it.

The F30 335i with the front fascia removed. The M-Sport aero package includes its own full set of shrouding and duct work.

BMW already has an adequate design on their stock intercooler. It's a stout tube

We've made some progress with testing our E46 intake and the dyno results are finally in! This intake was put through some extensive testing and it held up to the abuse with consistent and repeatable output numbers. Let's see how our finalized prototype fits on the car!

Fitment

Prototype E46 intake ready for the dyno

E46 parts fitment

E46 parts mocked up in the engine bay

Do you see the weather stripping on top of the heat shield? That will seal right onto the bottom of the hood to create a barrier between the filter and the hot ambient temperatures in the engine bay.

Keep in mind that this is just a revised prototype from the version we showed in our last post. Here, the coupler is now wrapped in five layers of black silicone. The final product will look much more complete!

Results

Please note, our test car was outfitted with aftermarket headers, so results will certainly vary from vehicle to vehicle. Check out our data below!

E46 parts testing

Our intake really opens up the airflow to

Our garage has been graced with the presence of a clean 2001 E46 330i, so we can now begin development on this E46 intake. Let's dive right in!

Stock System

The 330i stock intake system is similar to the 32X, the big difference being the size of the MAF housing. On the higher-output 330i models, this housing is larger so it can accept greater airflow needed by the more powerful, higher-displacement engine. To accommodate that larger diameter, our design will have a slightly enlarged opening on the heat shield. Everything else should fit right into place! Here are a few shots of the stock system we are working on.

Aerial shot of the 330i engine bay

E46 intake stock system

Up close shot of E46 parts

Design and Fitment

We needed to be sure that everything would fit correctly if we planned to use our previous shield as a base design. See below for how we mocked up fitment of the heat shield.

Fitment of prototype E46 parts

Fitment of prototype E46 parts

We knew going into this project that the

Interested in purchasing our F30 intake system? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW F30 Performance Intake!

With testing and data collection complete, we assembled our final prototype BMW F30 air intake to confirm that the full kit fits flawlessly prior to starting production. We have been pretty excited to see this unique kit come together. Check it out in its final form!

Final Intake Images

Our final prototype BMW F30 intake was cut from a sheet of metal using a waterjet. Once we had the template cut to our drawing and model specs, we bent each piece appropriately.

First, the base of our airbox.

Final prototype BMW F30 intake airbox base

Final prototype airbox base

Next we tacked up the airbox lid!

Final prototype BMW F30 air intake airbox lid

Final prototype airbox lid

Once everything was in proper position this unit was fully welded.

Final prototype BMW F30 air intake airbox lid

These welds were then ground down for a smooth finish.

Final prototype BMW F30

Interested in purchasing our F30 intake system? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW F30 Performance Intake!

We already knew our BMW F30 intake system looked fantastic within the engine bay of the F30. With our final prototype design fully complete, it was time to see if our intake system would produce any improvements in both intake sound and power output.

Dyno Runs

We strapped our test vehicle to the Dynojet and began making pulls. This particular vehicle was equipped with a aftermarket tuning device, and we would be checking data both with and without this software as a means to compare the stock intake system to our prototype design.

Test vehicle on dyno

We captured pulls with each system installed to compare the sounds of both systems. Check out the compilation video below!

You can certainly hear the difference in our video, but in person the tone changes are even more audible. By using a larger cone-style filter in our airbox, intake sound is much improved

Interested in purchasing our F30 intake system? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW F30 Performance Intake!

Time for an update on our F30 intake project! Check out the continued progression of our development below!

Airbox Base Fabrication

We left off last time with the completion of our intake pipe fabrication that leads to the airbox. Next on the list: assembling our airbox and refining the design to the appropriate shape we wanted to achieve.

We started with the base of the box, which will be utilizing the factory air duct to acquire a cool stream of airflow.

Airbox base cardboard template

A few bends and we had the basic shape in steel form.

Airbox base fabrication

Open up the argon tank and fire up the Miller! This piece was tacked up and fit into position on our test vehicle.

Airbox base fabrication

We decided to make this a two piece box, differing slightly from our other airboxes. Typically, our boxes comprise a dual piece unit, but the lid is just a single